Asparagus Agronomy Day 2017

19 Aug 2016by Jayne Dyas

Whilst the 2016 British asparagus harvest has only just finished the Asparagus Growers Association office is already planning the biennial 2017 Asparagus Agronomy Day which will take place after the 2017 harvest on Tuesday 18th July 2017 at Minster in Kent by kind permission of Edward Spanton Farms.

Whilst the overall format will be similar to previous years, there will be additional elements and more emphasis on time for industry members to network and learn practical solutions in the field. Due to the location of the farm, to the far South East of England, a pre-event dinner will be held on the evening of Monday 17th July as many growers will probably need to travel down on the previous day – particularly considering that the nightmare road of delays the M25 will have to be encountered by many. The speakers will be invited to this dinner and thus this presents another opportunity for growers to discuss the crop with them, in an informal atmosphere.

We have already had an acceptance by Professor Dan Drost of Utah State University, USA, a world expert on asparagus root growth, structure and yield, who will talk on this topic as part of one the field workshops. Details of the papers that he has written on asparagus can be found on the following link: https://psc.usu.edu/htm/people/faculty/memberID=32

Additional topics will be herbicides for asparagus, mechanical developments for the asparagus crop and the opportunity to view a new packhouse. It will be an ideal time to review the 2017 UK asparagus harvest and assess sales figures.

Whilst this will be an open event, there will only be a nominal charge to cover costs for Asparagus Growers Association members.

For more information contact either Brooke Lovelock or Jayne Dyas at the AGA office, tel: 01507 353789.